“The Trump administration is arguing that these unelected judges do not have the authority to control the executive branch, and I think they make a strong argument. Thomas Jefferson warned in an 1804 letter that judges have the authority, by the Constitution, to interpret the law and apply consequences when needed. But the executive branch also has the right to ‘remit the execution’ of a law that it deems unconstitutional, even if a judge disagrees,” The Federalist’s Brianna Lyman explained on “Fox News Live.” “And Jefferson said, ‘Nothing in the Constitution has given them [a right] to decide for the executive, more than to the Executive to decide for them.’ In other words he’s saying if you allow these judges to dictate the actions of the executive, you risk undermining that balance of power. And with these nationwide injunctions — when you have unelected, inferior court judges halting and deciding actions for the executive branch — with the scope and frequency that they’re doing — you risk a ‘despotic’ judiciary like Jefferson feared.”
Lyman: Thomas Jefferson Warned About Judicial Overreach
